Clinton by Walter Aimwell

Clinton's brood of ducks at length made their appearance, just one / month after he had put the eggs to the hen. There were eight of them, / four of the eggs having produced nothing. If madame Specky was a little / astonished at the singular appearance which her children presented, she / kept it all to herself, like a good, prudent mother, for she behaved / toward them just the same as though they were ordinary chickens. She / did not appear to think anything strange of their large bills, or their / clumsy, webbed feet, or their awkward, waddling gait. If a dog or cat / ventured near them, or a hawk happened to sail through the air, hen / never put on bolder front than did mistress Specky. And there was need / enough for all her courage, for her young family had so little control / over their big feet, that they never could have saved themselves by / their legs, had a foe invaded the premises.

For several days after the ducks were hatched, they continued about the / poultry-yard, ignorant as yet that there was such a thing as water, / except as they had made its acquaintance in the little tin pan from / which they were accustomed to drink. Clinton's father had told him / that it was a good plan to keep them from water for the first three / or four days, as they were so tender as to be easily injured by cold / and dampness. On the fifth day, Clinton concluded to introduce them / to their new home; so, gathering up the ducklings into a basket, and / taking the hen under his arm, he carried them down to the brook, where / he had made the duck-house and pond before-mentioned. It was now about / the middle of September, and the brook was nearly dry; but the little / round pond contained plenty of water. This pond received all the water / that came down in the brook; and there was a dam, at the lower side of / it, so that the water could not pass on its way, until it had filled / the pond, and flowed over the dam. The pond was thus kept full, all the / time, but it could be easily emptied, when necessary, by opening a / gate which Clinton had made in the dam.